Happy Long Weekend!

The weekend is upon us and I'm confident there isn't much else to say but....

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I hope you all have a safe and fabulous long weekend!

Canada Day Decor Ideas

With the long weekend only days away I thought it would be fun to touch on some fun decor ideas for your home. We have a lot of wood furniture in our home which is Canadian of us, right, right?? I'd love to incorporate some of these ideas into our home too.

When our backyard is finished I am 100% buying these. I love candles and these would make the perfect addition to any outdoor space.

 Is this not the best clock you've ever seen. I love the red and white hands, Oh So Canadian!

How about a gorgeous red coffee table. This table screams summer fun to me!

This may sound weird but I love coasters. They're so useful and save your wood furniture. That being said, I don't own a set as fabulous as these.

Last but not least an HBC blanket. You don't get much more Canadian then HBC!

What's your favourite Canadian piece in your home right now?

All of the images are from Style At Home.

Backyard Smores Bar

Happy Hump Day!

Can you believe that 1. It's summer and 2. It's almost the first long weekend of summer! Where the heck is this year going?

When I came across this backyard smore idea I immediately fell in love. If you've ever been to a cottage with me you know I have a serious love for roasting marshmellows. This smore idea has me giddy with excitment!

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How amazing is this? I need to have this in my backyard now!

So tell me, are you a smore / roasting marshmellows lover like me?

Strawberry Shortcake Popsicles

In keeping with the long weekend / Canada theme I thought these Strawberry Shortcake Popsicles would be perfect.

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Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup pureed strawberries
• ½ cup crushed vanilla Oreos
• 2 cups vanilla yogurt

Instructions:

1. Puree strawberries. Place Oreos in a food processor and pulse until cookies become fine crumbs. Alternatively, place Oreos in a Ziploc and using a rolling pin to crush cookies. Add crushed Oreos to the yogurt and mix until combined.

Assembly:

1. To assemble as the seen in the picture, layer the yogurt portion first and let freeze for 30 minutes before adding the strawberry layer, let this second layer freeze for 30 minutes and then add the last yogurt layer. For a quick assembly, pour each layer on top of one another without any freeze time in between and then use a skewer or fork and gently swirl for a swirled Popsicle look.

What do you think -- something worth trying this weekend?

Watermelon Pops

Sorry for the lack of posts last week. Work was nuts, I had an event in the city on Thursday and spent the weekend up north for my best friend's bachelorette! Let me just say, bachelorette parties are fabulous! Her maid of honours (two sisters) did an amazing job with everything!

Being that we have a long weekend coming up I thought I'd dedicate the posts this week to that. First up, watermelon pops!

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How great would these be at your bbq this weekend? What a fun way to serve fruit. And if you have kids this is a good way to keep their hands clean.

Happy Monday!

Happy Summer!

With the heat wave we're having here in Toronto I think this is something everyone can enjoy!

How amazing would this Strawberry Margarita Popsicle taste on a hot day like today!


Click here for the how-to.

Stay cool :)

DIY Shoe Box Art

It's no secret that I'm not the most crafty person in the world. I really wish I was but I'm not. I'm sure if I devoted some serious time and had the right supplies I could be, but to be honest, I'd rather cook a great meal.

Needless to say this awesome DYI is not a Nicole original but cool enough that I had to share.

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Instead of using canvas, use the lids from your most recent shoe purchase and paint away. I absolutely adore this and think this may be something I could do.

Click here for the instructions and how-to.

What do you think? Would you try this? Are you crafty?

Chocolate Filled Strawberries

I love fruit. I eat pineapple almost everyday. You'd think I was a pregnant lady with weird cravings because I'm constantly asking  sending M to the grocery store to buy me pineapple. Add strawberries to my bowl of cut up pineapple and I'm in heaven.

When I came across these chocolate filled strawberries I thought they were too good to be true.

Ingredients15-20 strawberries (the larger the better)
1 bag of Milk Chocolate chips (I use the 11.5 oz Guittard milk chocolate chips)

Directions
1. Cut the stems off your clean strawberries and carefully scoop out the top of the berry. The deeper you scoop the more chocolate it will hold. I used large strawberries so I scooped about an inch down.

2. Pour the entire bag of chocolate chips in a glass bowl and heat in the microwave for 30 second intervals. Make sure to take your bowl out every 30 seconds to stir the chips. Continue until all chips are melted.

3. Place your strawberries in an egg carton so they sit straight up. You could also use little Dixie cups. Now you can either spoon your melted chocolate into the berries or use a funnel or piping bag. I used a little baby spoon and it worked fine. Your choice.

4. Place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes until they harden. Eat or continue to store in the fridge.


Amazing, right?

The pictures and recipe are from here.

Have a great Monday!

Pink, Pink, Pink

Ever have one of those days weeks where everything just piles up. You feel like you need to spend days away from reality to re-group. Ya, me too. With the new puppy, work being crazy, sleep being something of the past, it's been a long couple weeks. Yes, I know, first world problems.

That said, today's post is all about pink. Pink is beautiful, pink is feminine, pink is sexy.

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I hope you all have a great weekend. My weekend will be mostly spent hanging out which I'm super excited for.

Happy Father's Day!

Floral Clusters

Every weekend I hit up the grocery store and buy a pretty floral arrangement for our house. I love having fresh flowers in the house, especially in the spring / summer. It brightens things up and brings the outside inside.

Something I am loving lately is clusters of arrangements. I love the idea of adding different size vases to create a unique look.

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Are you cluster person too? Do you enjoy having fresh flowers in your home?

How To Use Herbs

Do herbs you've never tried intimidate you?

Sometimes I worry I'm going to completely ruin a dish if I add something I'm not 100% sure about. Other times I take the risk.

Last night for example I made a rack of lamb for dinner and seasoned it with a bit of olive oil, salt, rosemary, thyme and herbs d'provence. It was delicious, if I do say so.

Cooking is about taking risks and not being afraid to order a pizza if you ruin whatever you were attempting to cook.

Here's a great tool to help with herbs.

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Enjoy your day!

Balloon Ice

I hope you had a great weekend!

With the new puppy at home there has been some serious adjusting and figuring things out. We adore him but it's taking some serious getting used to. Instead of waking up at 5:30am, I'm up at 4:30am. That is an hour humans shouldn't have to experience, trust me.

All of that said, I could use a drink! I came across this fabulous ice substitution and just had to share.

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How amazing would this be at your next party. The balloons would be much less messy than a big bucket full of ice. Just freeze the water balloons and voila! If your party had a colour theme this would be a fantastic touch.

What do you think? Something you'd consider trying?

And The Winner Is.....

First off I would like to thank Blurb Books for this fabulous giveaway. I am a big fan of their work and think you should all be too.

Secondly, I want to thank all of you who entered the contest! It was great reading what you'd create if you won.

Without further adieu, the winner of the Blurb Books contest is Meagan from The Row House Nest.

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Have a good weekend!

What To Do With Our Front Entrance

Our front entrance has potential. The only problem, I have no idea what to do....that and moula! We have very high ceilings, a double front door, and some decent space if you ask me.

I like the idea of adding a big burst of colour to this area. We're in a linked townhome which means only our garage wall is attached to our neighbour. When you walk into the house you still have to go up a couple steps to get to the main floor. That said, I see colour, bold, beautiful colour.

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 This chalk board is amazing. I LOVE chalk boards and think this is genious!

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 These aren't colours I'd use but I love this idea.

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 I love this colour. I'm not sure it would suit my house but I love it nonetheless.



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I love the shelving here and the area for shoes.

Tell me, what have you done with your entry way? Do you have a separate mud room? What would you do?

Summer Fresh Flavoured Ice Cubes

How wonderful would these look floating in your cocktail this weekend!

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Flavored Ice Cubes
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:
blackberry flavored:
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 cup blackberries
kiwi-strawberry:
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
6 strawberries, cleaned, hulled and diced
¼ cup blueberries
1 ½ cups kiwi-strawberry sparkling water

Directions:
1. For the blackberry ice cubes: Pour the sugar and water into a small pot, stir and simmer over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. Remove from heat, add blackberries and muddle together.
3. Allow the mixture to cool completely.
4. Pour the mixture into an ice tray and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.
5. For the kiwi-strawberry ice cubes:
6. Toss the kiwi, strawberries and blueberries in a small bowl until well combined.
7. Place a small spoonful of mixed fruit into each ice cube hole.
8. Fill the fruit filled ice cube trays with the flavored sparkling water and place in the freezer.
9. Freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.

Amazing, right!

I have a very special announcement today! Michael and I bought a gorgeous 8 week old cock-a-poo yesterday. He's absolutely perfect and we're madly in love. I haven't been able to snap a great picture of him because he love being near me and inbetween my legs while I'm standing. But just know that's he's adorable (proud mama much)!

Lastly, don't forget to enter the Blurb Books $35.00 giveaway going on until tomorrow. Click here to enter.

Not Your Typical Bruschetta

Give me a loaf of bread, some olive oil, tomatoes and garlic and I'm a happy person but I like change. I'm always on the look out for delicious, fun, trendy appetizers. I came across these various types of brushcetta that I have to share.

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 How wonderful does this look for summer. Strawberry & Goat Cheese Brushcetta.

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 I'm sure I've mentioned it before, my love for guacamole. I plan on making these VERY soon, like Saturday soon.

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 Ricotta, strawberry & pea shots

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I've made these a couple times and they're delicious. The flavours of the peaches and tomatoes together is amazing.

Are you a brushcetta person? Do you have a delicious recipe? Please share it!

Ice Cream Themed Events

I had a crazy, busy, fun, exciting weekend! Lipstik was in full force and busy none stop this weekend. I was at two bridal showers this weekend....One I worked and the other was my best friends. Both where beautiful and suited the bride to a T!

I stumbled across these pictures and thought they'd be amazing for a baby shower or a child's birthday.

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I love the use of donuts in this picture. I'd eat a donut every day is my waistline would allow it!

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How adorable are these ice cream cone cupcakes.

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Fun & Fruity Cocktails

Does summer scream fun cocktails to anyone else? I love me a good, crisp, fruity and refreshing cocktail. The brighter the colour and more fruit the better.

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1 small carton of raspberries

1 small carton of strawberries

1 lime

2 apples, granny smith and a braeburn

1 serrano pepper (more if you are daring)

1 bottle of Viognier

1/2 cup of white grape juice

1/4 cup of sugar

1 can of club soda

Mint leaves for garnish

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1 12-ounce can frozen pineapple juice concentrate, thawed

1 6-ounce can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed

4 cups cold water * 1 liter club soda, chilled

Ice cubes

Fresh strawberries (optional)

Short (6-inch) wooden skewers

Assorted fruits such as halved orange slices, halved lime slices, orange sections, raspberries, strawberries, sliced kiwifruit, and mint sprigs

Are you a fruity cocktail person too? What's your favourite summer beverage?

Don't forget about the Blurb Books giveaway going on until June 7th. Click here to enter.